By Bronson Woodruff
MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. (Take 30 News) ---Flood waters in Columbus and Lowndes County were high this past weekend. Some roads were impassible – except by boat. People who live near the Tombigbee Waterway will undoubtedly feel the effects for quite some time.
Heavy floods impacted floods this past weekend. Neighborhoods were flooded making it unsafe for some residents to leave their driveways. The pedestrian bridge at the Columbus Riverwalk was damaged after an unpiloted barge is suspected by city leaders to have impacted one of the bridge’s support pillars, according to public information officer Joe Dillon. Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Cindy Lawrence says damages to the bridge are being examined.
“They’ve closed the bridge presently to pedestrians. No one’s allowed to go out,” Lawrence said.
She says a quote to determine how much repairs will cost will be given soon. Until the bridge is repaired, she says, no pedestrians will be allowed onto the bridge.
Nearby the Columbus Riverwalk is a local restaurant called Ruben’s Catfish and Steakhouse. The restaurant was having its own problems, as the road to it was covered in several feet of murky, brown water. The rising levels threatened to flood the restaurant. Employees could do nothing as the waters approached the front door. Danny Rast is a cook at Ruben’s. He says this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
“This month last year, we couldn’t get in Ruben’s because of all the water, the flooding. We know we’re not in control, but we know who is, so as you can tell now, the water is at a standstill, and its’s not coming up or down. We’re lucky right now because the water’s not inside the restaurant,” Rast said. “What comes from the North always comes down, and we get the end of the deal down here.”
The road to Ruben’s was cut off from traffic due to the water. The only way people were able to get to the restaurant if needed was for a rowboat to be sent over to get them.
Rast says he’s disappointed the flooding happened on this particular weekend because it means they will have to be closed on one of their busiest days of the year.
“It’s affecting everyone right now, especially tomorrow, the biggest holiday of the year, Valentine’s, and everybody wants to take their sweetie out and wine and dine them,” Rast said. “You see what we’re going to be doing. We’re going to be fighting the water.”
Rast said the business lost a lot of sales due to being closed on Valentine's Day, but he added that the restaurant did not flood. He said the business reopened the following Saturday night.